Editorial standards
Trust is the product. These are the rules we hold ourselves to.
Accuracy first
- Every factual claim must be supported by a source we can link to or document. We prefer primary sources: governments, agencies, courts, official data and the people or organisations involved.
- If a claim cannot be confirmed with a primary source, we either leave it out, clearly attribute it (“according to…”), or hold the story for further reporting.
- We do not invent quotes, numbers, names or details. Quotes are reproduced exactly as published by the original source and attributed.
Originality and credit
- We write our own stories from verified facts. We do not republish other outlets’ articles, and we do not paraphrase them sentence by sentence.
- When another newsroom reported something first, we say so and link to them.
- We list our sources at the end of every story.
Images
- We only publish images we have the right to use: our own photography, properly licensed images, compatible Creative Commons images, or explicitly licensed submissions. Attribution alone is not permission.
- Images that do not show the actual event are labelled “Illustrative photo”. AI-generated images are labelled “AI-generated illustration” and are never used to depict real events as if they happened.
Fairness and harm
- Stories involving criminal allegations, private individuals, health claims, or sensitive personal information always receive additional human review before publication.
- We do not name private individuals accused of crimes unless there is a clear public interest and an official source has done so. People charged with crimes are presumed innocent.
- We avoid graphic content and do not publish manipulated media as real.
Independence
Advertisers and sponsors have no say over our journalism. Sponsored content is always clearly labelled. See our advertising policy.
Corrections
We correct mistakes quickly and transparently. See our corrections policy.